We Hold the Key
by Vale P
Summary: I had two friends while I was inside that chamber; The Ralts I had been given, the only one who knew what it was like to be stuck in one place for your entire life with no hopes of escape... and her. My best friend and the girl I can't quite admit my feelings to.


**Authors Note: I've provided links to a few images related to the characters clothing and their equipment on my profile. I can't add them to the story itself unfortunately, so if you'd like a definitive glance at what I imagine them to look like go check it real quick. There aren't too many and I highly recommend it.**

I was introduced to the world at twenty two weeks old. My parents were horrified, scared out of their wits that their first child, their only child, would be born into the world only to be immediately taken out of it. My road to childhood was rocky at best. Full of ups, downs, scares and even miracles in their own right. The doctors said I shouldn't have been alive, and I certainly shouldn't have developed to be the perfectly healthy seventeen year old boy I am now. They named me Felix, which apparently means 'lucky' or 'successful' in Latin. Cheesy, but fitting in a way. My life is a result of some serious luck, but I can't really say that I'm successful. Reading this, you're probably wondering what all this has to do with pokemon, right? Well, that's just what I mean by not successful. I'm seventeen years old. Every kid goes on their own journey at ten. When I was ten, I was too sick to be exposed to the air everybody else breaths. Nope, I was a bubble boy for most of my life. In fact, for the first fifteen years of my existence I was kept there. Now granted it wasn't all that bad, I received more than enough love from my parents, and having been that way all of my life made it so that I was used to it, it was normal to me. I could tolerate it.

I couldn't leave that environment at all until they knew it was safe, so my parents had held me all of one time my entire life. They were, however, allowed to give me presents. My first and most important present was somewhat of a graduation present. I got it the day I got out of the hospital. I obviously can't remember when they gave it to me, but for as long as I can remember, it's been there. The doctors said it would be good for my health to have a companion, somebody to go through the ordeal with me. That's why they got me Ren. See, most kids get their first pokemon at ten and go on their journey, right? Well I got mine when I left that place after a year. Ren's been with me throughout the entire thing. She was an egg for a very long time… my parents never understood it.

On my third birthday, the egg had started moving slightly. On my fourth, it had started cracking ever so slightly. On my fifth she finally hatched, and into my arms climbed a tiny Ralts with its green hair, two red horns and dress-like body, which I learned really was a dress. She was just born with clothes. I insisted on naming her Ren, and that was that; best friends on the spot. Apparently, because I was a slow developer as far as my leaving for a journey was concerned, the hatching process was delayed to the extreme. I didn't move, I didn't do much of anything beside play video games, so she remained that way for a long time until she eventually hatched. We ate together and played together for the rest of my time in the chamber, all ten years of it. When the doctors said I was ready to come out, it was the biggest day of my life. Embracing my parents for the first time I could remember, breathing real fresh air, swimming, running, jumping, playing… it was an incredible experience. Ren shared every one of them with me. Two years have passed now… today's the day I graduate from the Pokemon Academy. It also happens to be my birthday, and everything is about to change.

* * *

"Felix!" the soft voice of my mother lingers up the stairs, rousing me once again from my attempt at sleeping in. I ignore her for the fifth time and roll over, burying my head in my pillow before footsteps make their way up the stairs, down the hall to the farthest door. The door pops as it opens, never having shut quite right since it had been installed. Whatever had been holding it together had apparently stopped doing so, because the back of it hangs at the corner, making it difficult to open it quietly, especially when one is attempting to sneak downstairs to steal something from the fridge. "Felix, up. I mean it." she demands from the doorway. I respond with a groan as she tosses something at me, pelting me in the head before it falls on the pillow. I lift my head to find a simple pokeball glinting in the harsh sunlight filtering in through the blinds beside my bed. "What's this?" I ask, tapping the button on the center of the sphere, causing it to swell and tip off the pillow. "Maybe you should open it and find out." she replied, crossing the room to place a kiss on my forehead despite my protests. "Happy birthday." she says before leaving me with the thing, knowing it'll be enough to keep me from falling asleep again. Temptation is a hell of a weapon.

I grab the sphere and pace to the bathroom attached to my bedroom (one of the benefits of growing up in a bubble: you need a big room.), tapping the center button again, letting it shrink. "Ren?" I call out to the open air, receiving a mental prodding in response, her way of telling me she heard me. "Can you come up here? Mom left us something." I continue, setting the sphere down on the counter. A brief purple flash lights up the bathroom and my Ralts is sat down on the toilets basin, her eyes watching me from under her hair. She notices the pokeball and watches it with me as I crouch down, leveling my eyes with it. Is it empty, or is this actually another pokemon? It moves ever so slightly as Ren prods at it, tapping the center button so that it swells again. She points to herself and I shake my head. "No, it's not yours." I hold up my hand where a leather bracelet holds a similar ball, only this one is clearly much older than the one before us. "I never take it off, you know that. No, this is a different one. It can't be an empty, I've got plenty of those from school." I place a hand on my chin before taking it and shrinking it again. "Can you get me the- thanks." I smile as a small box floats in through the door. I remove the little links inside and attach five more to the bracelet, stringing them apart evenly before I attach the new ball on the other side. They're two halfs of a silver link held together by a strong magnet in one end. Strong enough to keep it attached while I'm rolling down a hill, which is definitely not an activity I reccommend. At least not more than once. Or twice.

They let me pull the ball from the bracelet to use it as I need to, then reattach them. It will keep it held tight and secure so they don't fall off. It's one of the Devon Corperations best products. I got this the day I signed up for the Academy for being exemplary in class right off the bat. It's technically a prototype, so not many people have one. One of the benefits of living near their main building I guess. Rustboro is a great city. I'm shaken from my reverie by a shout from down stairs; "Felix, shower!" it's my dad this time, home early from work. Ren hops down from the counter and runs from my room to greet him before my mom enters, dropping fresh clothes on my bed. "You didn't open it, did you?" she asks as I shed my shirt, tossing it into the laundry bin. "Nope." I hold up my arm for her, showing her the extra ball attached to the bracelet and she nods. "Good. I have something else for you before you go." she gives me a grin before leaving the room again, shutting my door behind her. A second gift? What could top a new pokemon? I shake my head to myself before removing the rest of my clothing and stepping into the shower. After I'm done I dress myself in the clothing my mother provided; black jeans with a white belt, a grey striped long-sleeved shirt, and my black beanie that I wear everywhere. I pull on the clothing and return to the bathroom to look myself over, my gaze lingering on my red bracelet for a moment before I turn and head out of the room.

I take the stairs two at a time on my way down, nearly running into my father as he steps around the corner, catching me with ease and spinning me around so that I'm facing the right way before he hugs me. "Happy birthday." he tells me with a large smile. "Thanks, dad. Did they let you off early?" I ask, wondering if he had to call in sick or something to get out of work at the devon building. "Yeah, Mr. Stone heard about it and gave me the day off so I could be at your graduation, now go on outside, I'll be out in a minute." he says before walking up the steps, leaving me frowning at the empty space. What now? I move through the house to the front door and Ren appears in front of me, her arms lifted. I reach down and pick her up, placing her on my shoulder where she usually sits and I move through the front yard to where my mother is standing, at the iron gate separating our house from the neighbors, who have gathered along with my mother. "Hey, what's this about?" I ask, joining them. "Oh this isn't everybody. There's a couple more people to arrive yet." My mom replies as footsteps clatter against the pavement, signalling the approach of one of the only friends I've got beside Ren. "Hey, Roxanne." I greet her while Ren waves from my shoulder. "Hey you two. I'm not late, am I?" she asks my mom, who shakes her head with a smile. My front door closes again, and my dad joins us with a camera in his hand as well as a small flat box, which he hands to me. "Not yet, we have a couple more people yet." he tells me as I move to open the lid. Ren reaches down to take it from me so that she can examine it, shaking it lightly as more footsteps sound. Two more figures step around the building to our right, joining our group with grins. "Holy crap!" I shout, grinning widely as they join us. "Flannery! And May? What are you guys doing here?"

"Like I would miss your birthday?" Flannery answers, walking forward to give me a light hug and smile widely at Ren, who immediately jumps ships, sitting instead on her shoulder while May greets me with a large smile. "I just finished up the last contest in Kanto last week when your mom called." she explained as she took Ren from Flannery, cradling her with a smile. "I needed to come back home for a little r and r, this was a good excuse for me to actually do it." she explained before letting Ren crawl back onto my shoulder. "That's everybody." my mom interrupts our little semi circle. "We don't have a whole lot of time before you have to go graduate, so let's make this quick, alright?" she holds her hand out to Ren, who hands her the box then places a hand on my cheek, using it as support to lean outward so she can see everybody. I pull the new pokeball from my wrist, holding it up for confirmation, and my mom nods as my dad gets into position to start taking pictures. "Whenever you're ready." she tells me. I nod, expanding it quickly. I'm nervous, and it's obvious to everybody. Flannery removes a ball of her own, letting me follow along as she tosses it lightly into the air. I mimic her movements, and two beams of white touch the ground. From her ball forms the newest addition to her team; a small houndour who greets the group with a bark. From mine is the first pokemon I can ever remember wanting, the pokemon I'd once vowed to catch some day; a Torchic. Ren slides down my arm, then lands gently on the floor in front of it, greeting the newcomer with a friendly smile. I crouch down and extend my hand slightly, palm up with a smile of my own. "Hey, little guy." I say quietly as it approaches slowly. "My name's Felix. How are you?" I say as it inspects my hand. Its head flicks up at the sound of my voice and it stills for a moment before letting out a cry of its name while it rests its head in my hand.

I pet it gently as the people around me cheer, startling it momentarily before it turns to Ren. "You guys…" I right myself and turn to my parents. "Thank you so much." I say with a smile that my mom returns, just in time for my dad to snap a picture. "You, too. Thank you both so much." I repeat myself. My dad just gives me a thumbs up before snapping another picture of Ren and my new Torchic as they converse in their own language. Flannery's houndour is sat down at her heel while she kneels to pet it, her eyes on me. "He's a boy." Mom tells me. "Are you going to name him, too?" May asks, fiddling with her belt. "Yeah, I will." I reply, watching him. "Well? What are you gonna call him?" she prompts as I make a clicking sound with my tongue, catching the attention of both of them. Torchic walks toward me, chirping happily. "How does Lyle sound to you?" I ask him, earning another chirp and a little hop as confirmation. "Lyle it is. Welcome to the team buddy."

"Okay, one more." Mom says, shaking the box to grab my attention. "You guys, this is too much. You've given me a Torchic, how can I accept any more?" I frown at the box as she rolls her eyes. "You will accept more because we are your parents. Now open it up." she shoves the box into my hands while my friends laugh. I pull the top off gently, exposing the contents. Almost everybody is looking over my shoulder at this point. Flannery is directly in front of me, staring into the box with a disbelieving look plastered on her face. "That isn't…"

"It is." My dad interrupts her, walking forward to remove the object of our scrutiny from the box, holding it up high. "This is a Mega Stone." he declares, holding it out for me to take. I look at the stone incredulously. "This particular stone," a new voice starts, snapping us out of our ogling so that we can turn to the gate to see the newcomer. "is called Blazikenite." the young man with silver hair and a neat suit says as he approaches the group with a blue pokemon trailing after him, floating easily in his wake. The Metang lands in the center of our group as the new guy approaches me, a smile on his face. "Steven?" I ask, unsure. "That's me." he replies with a smile. "As in Steven Stone?"

"The same one."

"You're the champion." I state plainly. "I'm aware." he replies, quirking an eyebrow. "Why is the champion of the Hoenn region standing in front of my house?" I ask confusedly. "The reason is very simple." he replies, pointing at the stone I'm holding. "May I?" he asks. I nod, placing the stone in his palm. He holds it up into the sunlight, smiling at the shape within. "I found this stone, you know." he says after watching its glint for a long moment. "I found it in Mossdeep a few years back. It originates from the Kalos region." My mother holds up a piece of paper, grabbing my attention. Two slips of paper. Flannery grabs one of them and my mother hands me the other. I take it and look back to Steven. "I don't understand." I say as Ren nudges my leg. I lean down to pick her up again, and she climbs onto the shoulder opposite Steven, peeking around the back of my head to watch him while Torchic greets the Metang. "No, I don't expect you do. But you will in time. Suffice it to say I have a very significant investment in the artifacts in that box. This stone, the bracelet that goes with it, the plane ticket you have in your hand that permit a flight to Kalos, even that Torchic, or Lyle as you have named him. These are gifts from me, Felix. Not your parents."

"Why?" I ask instantly. I faintly register the sound of a pokemon being recalled, but I'm too astonished to pay proper attention to it. "Like you said, I'm the champion." he reached down to pick Lyle from the ground, holding the pokemon with a smile. The Torchic simply chirped happily, tapping the side of Stevens face with his beak. "But I have several passions. One of which is collecting rare stones as you know. The other is pokemon breeding." he motioned to Lyle. "My final passion goes beyond the rest though. I am intensely interested in history, specifically the mythology surrounding our world and the pokemon we call legendary. Pokemon like the Regi trio, Groudon and Kyogre, Rayquaza, Arceus, Dialga and Palkia, the creation trio… all of them." He passed Lyle over to me, smiling as the torchic chirped happily up at me. "Where do I come in?" I asked, looking down at the little pokemon in my arms. "Well that's just it. My largest passion is also the one I have the least amount of time for. Being the champion is a lot of responsibility, more than I can ever tell you. Between battling challengers, making political decisions, working with the leaders of other regions and managing my personal and professional affairs here, I have little to no time to pursue anything. This is the first I've left Ever Grande City in three months. I spend a majority of my time away from my home and away from little oddities like this one." he places the stone into my palm, then reaches for the box in my mothers hands, grabbing another item from it. A black bracelet.

"The stone and this bracelet are attuned to each other. They will react when it is held by a blaziken with which you have a strong bond and a stronger evolution will take place. Please put this on." he says, holding the bracelet out for me. I pocket the tiny stone and extend my right arm. He fastens the thing around my wrist, just above my other bracelet. Red and black, one made of leather, the other of some kind of metal I can't identify. The instant it clasps around my wrist, I feel a faint pulse flow through my fingers, up my arm and down my body toward my right hip where the stone lies. I remove it to find that it's glowing a flaming red, and Steven watches quietly, his expression impassive but patient. "Why me? I've never even trained a pokemon outside of school before." I wonder, passing the stone to Ren. "For several reasons, but mainly because of that." he points to Ren, and I furrow my brow. "Ren? Why because of her?" I ask. Ren is now hiding behind my head again. "Because Ralts is the feeling pokemon. The way it acts around you tells me that she trusts you immensely. She would give her life to save yours, and knows you would do the same in return." I nod as if this is obvious. Of course I would. "The Ralts family don't trust easily. In fact, often times they will become very reclusive, depressed and emotional when in possession of a trainer who treats them badly or has a bad attitude or outlook on life. Most times they will run or teleport away when they get the chance. The fact that your Ralts is as happy as it is says a lot about you as a person, Felix. You are a fine young man. I know I can trust you to fulfil the task I'm going to ask you to." He told me, earning nods from my family and friends, and even a smile from Ren. "What are you going to ask me to do? What can I do?" I asked warily, glancing nervously at Ren. "You can go with your friend here," he motioned to Flannery who moved to stand by my side, her Houndour trailing behind her. "explore the Kalos region, master mega evolution and uncover the hidden Mega stones." Flannery smiled nervously at me.

"I hope you don't mind… your mom mentioned asked and I jumped at the opportunity. We always talked about leaving when you were free, right? This is our chance." she looked hopeful if not a bit shy. She was right, though. I'd known Flannery since before I had been let out of the chamber. My parents and her grandparents are old friends, and had been for years. She would come over and play video games with me for hours on end almost every week, whenever her grandfather would be able to take her. It's because of her that I've wanted a Torchic. I suppose it's only fitting she accompanies through this avenue of my life as well. "No, that's perfect." I replied, earning a beaming smile from her. "It'll be much more interesting that w-" I was inturrupted as she nearly crushed me with a hug, but she released me just as quickly as the smile on her face became tinged with embarrassment. She was not one to act this way normally, at least not in front of others. Being a gym leader meant she had a certain atmosphere to keep up. It was kind of hilarious when she first started; she kept screwing up her lines, trying to act intimidating while coming across as more than a little green. Steven clapped his hands together, catching me off guard for a moment. "Sir, I don't know what to say other than thank you for giving me this opportunity." I say as Ren resettles herself after nearly falling off my shoulder under Flannery's brief assault. "Well this is more for me than it is for you, keep that in mind." he replied with a grin as Metang whirred into movement, moving to hover over his head. Steven recalled the pokemon, then removed a second pokeball. "You've had a rough life, Felix. You're lucky to be alive, and you most certainly shouldn't have escaped the situation with the disposition you've got. You're surprisingly happy all things considered. I wanted to contribute to that happiness. After all, every boy deserves a journey." with that, he tossed the pokeball into the air, and a mass of steel appeared overhead as Steven jumped up, landing on the Skarmory's back. "There's a couple other things in the box for you. One of them is a Holocaster. Expect a call from me every once in a while." he called out to the group before his Skarmory beat its wings, sending the two of them careening off in the distance, over the trees until they eventually disappeared.

"Wow." I muttered as the rest of the people around me started talking. My neighbors bid a brief goodbye before disappearing into their house, Roxanne shook my hand, told me she'd see me at the school in thirty and left for her gym to change her clothing. May wishes me luck in Kalos before telling me she's supposed to meet her boyfriend Brandon for coffee in Verdanturf. I'd met the guy once a year ago, he was very nice. As she dissapeared, my mom gave me the box containing the last of my things. Inside was the holocaster Steven had talked about before, a blue device with a projection board on the face that would emit a hologram of the person you would be talking to. I scrolled through the contacts, finding everybody that had attended the pseudo party inside it. Flannery flashed her own pink one, stating that she'd asked for red but it hadn't been available. The second item was a blue trifold wallet held closed by velcro, inside of which was a thousand dollars. This was apparently from my parents. The final item was a plastic card that I fit into my wallet. It was apparently used to access super training centers scattered around Kalos. I would be able to use them to activate specialized training sessions, designed for specific pokemon and abilities. Special courses, physical courses, speed and defensive courses etc. Ren seemed excited about them. My dad took a few more pictures before he and my mother left to get ready for the graduation ceremony, leaving Flannery and I alone. I hadn't seen her in nearly a month, she'd been so busy with work at the gym… which reminded me, "What about the Gym?" I asked, snapping her out of some kind of reverie. She looked at me, confused for a moment before I pointed at the Rustboro Gym, perfectly visible across the road. "Oh, the Gym. Rylan is going to be taking care of it." she said finally before recalling Houndour and clipping the ball onto her belt.

"Really? Didn't you say a month ago you didn't think he was ready for the responsibility?" I asked, recalling Torchic and snapping the ball back onto my bracelet. "Yeah, I did." she confirmed. We sat on a bench a short ways out of the front area of my house. Ren lounged between us as we talked. "What changed?" I asked once we had settled. "He proved himself. Remember the whole Aqua Magma thing a while back?" She asked. I nodded, silently telling her to continue. "Well apparently a few of them were still active, using the old base in Jagged Pass. We thought we'd closed it off well enough, but they apparently had been using some Aggron to clear away the rubble left over when Groudon woke up. Apparently they were planning to launch an assault on the town, and Rylan stopped them. He and his Charizard wiped 'em out, and they were arrested. When I watched him battle… I just knew, you know? He's a lot like my grandfather was." she trailed off, staring into the distance. "That's cool. I'll have to give him a call at some point to congratulate him." I said, lounging back into the bench. "Why did you want to come, Annie?" I asked after a long couple minutes. When she didn't respond, I sighed. "This better not be about keeping watch over me."

"It's not." she interrupted me, shifting herself backwards, swinging her legs up onto the bench so she could face me. "It's a bonus, but that's not the reason." she shook her head. "Than what is the reason?" I demanded, watching her. "Over the last year we've seen each other how many times?" she asked, knowing I'd know the exact answer. "Twelve." I replied, earning a nod from her. "Twelve. We've seen less and less of each other since I took up the job. I miss hanging out with you. I miss traveling. I miss being a trainer. That was snatched from me before I really got started. I'm too young to spend the rest of my life in one town. If I can travel to a brand new region, with you of all people? That's like a dream come true. Exploring new places with my best friend, taking on gyms again, starting fresh." she was really venting now, this had been on her mind for a while now. I knew it, we talked about it a lot when she first started, but it was something that just wouldn't change, just like I would be stuck in this dusty down for the rest of my life. The opportunity to carve out our own future was too tempting to pass up. "Than it's settled. We're going to kick Kalos' ass." I held up my fist, and she tapped it with her own, smiling.

"Damn right we are."

* * *

I apologize if the paragraphs are too blocky, if it becomes a problem I will change it.


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